Sticky side to sweet sideline in honey
Couple offer tips to landowners thinking of diversifying into bees BEEKEEPING with
Producing honey can be a sweet addition to farm income, but there are some sticky regulations to comply with.
North Canterbury farmers Dan and Mandy Shand shared their experiences of running a 2000-hive operation on their 7000ha high country farm, Island Hills Station, at a Beef + Lamb New Zealand South Island FarmSmart conference.
Before returning to the family farm, Mandy Shand was a scuba diving instructor, while Dan was a software developer.
The couple won the 2012 Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award recognising their honey and tourism businesses, which complemented the sheep and beef operation, while Dan was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2014.
One of the challenges had been the honey produced from pollinating ka¯nuka plants being passed off as ma¯nuka honey, which was known for its healing qualities.
“Everything about a ma¯nuka tree is bigger and its flowers are all individual flowers.
“The ka¯nuka flowers are all in bunches. Under the microscope the pollen is identical, so New Zealand was selling more ma¯nuka honey than we were actually producing.”
The Ministry of Primary Industries had since developed a DNA test to determine ma¯nuka honey. Dan said there were several things to consider when placing beehives on the farm, regardless of whether they were yours or a visiting beekeeper's hives, including where to place hives. Was it for wintering, pollinating or collecting honey, how far were the hives from the farm boundary, and could you work with your neighbour?
“I think of my bees as livestock, so you need to ask if your sheep could fly into your neighbour’s property, would you be able to sleep at night?”
Mandy Shand said her role was to keep the paperwork up to date to meet compliance, with audits twice a year.
“You really need to make sure your paperwork is up to scratch. It’s not as easy as having the hives and connecting the hives.”
To simplify tracing of honey back to hives and to locations, Dan Shand had used his software skills to develop a traceability program, which he had turned into a small sideline business, and hoped to soon be able to make the information accessible to consumers.
“I spend a lot of my time thinking about what the future looks like, and being able to access information about where your honey comes from in real time is becoming increasingly important.” ■